


Orange Petals

by wjock



Category: The Strange Case of Starship Iris (Podcast)
Genre: Consent Issues, Established Violet/Arkady, F/F, Mutual Pining, Sex Pollen, Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-08
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2020-11-27 08:21:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20945246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wjock/pseuds/wjock
Summary: Sana had been doing an excellent job handling her poorly timed feelings. It seemed remarkably unfair for that to be ruined by an unfortunate incident with alien flora.





	Orange Petals

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Caracalliope](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caracalliope/gifts).

Sana huddled against the tree trunk, arms wrapped tight around her knees. It was getting harder to think clearly. A feverish heat coursed through her, sharp pain pierced her gut. Her hand reached for her comms. She needed to update the crew. That always mattered, keeping the crew in the loop.

But hadn't she already spoken to Arkady on the comms? She thought she had. Maybe she’d imagined it. No, there was no use in second-guessing herself. Another call wouldn’t hurt.

"Captain!" came Arkady's voice through the forest.

Sana lifted her head up to see Arkady and Violet approaching her. Arkady had her gun out, scanning the empty clearing for threats. Violet's worried gaze stayed on Sana. 

"Good," said Sana. She nodded in satisfaction. “I did comm you.”

Violet frowned. "Are you experiencing memory issues?"

"No, I"-Sana shuddered again,"I remember, it's hard to focus right now."

"Liu, any idea what’s happening here?" Arkady looked panicked. Sana didn't like that. She could see the tension in Arkady's tight shoulders, and all she wanted was to tug the collar of Arkady's shirt aside, lay kiss after kiss on bare skin till the muscles underneath relax.

"Hey, you with us?" Arkady waved a hand in front of Sana's face. 

Sana shook her head. "Sorry, yes."

"You said you fell into a field of flowers before you began to feel ill?" Violet got down on one knee next to Sana, a careful look on her face. 

"Yes." Sana turned to Violet. Her eyes fell on Violet's chest and the minute she started daydreaming about burying her head in between Violet's breasts, she squeezed her eyes shut tight. While Sana was certainly aware of her own attraction to the other two women, it was frustrating that her current state left her incapable of even baseline respectfulness. Two crushes and a fever didn’t feel like much of an excuse. 

"Captain." Violet's voice sounds patient. "I know this might be difficult, but I need you to describe what you remember about the flowers, and what symptoms you're feeling."

"They had orange petals with white spots." Sana pressed her head back against the tree. "I feel really warm, I can't stop shaking and there's this"-Sana whimpered-"pain in"-she gestured.

A cool hand laid against Sana's forehead, and though her symptoms were only slightly muted, the relief felt immediate. Nothing in the world mattered more than that area of skin-to-skin contact. After a few seconds, the hand left. 

_No. _Sana opened her eyes. She grabbed Violet's wrist before it got too far away. Horrified, Sana let go and curled up tighter. "Sorry. I-it-it just hurt less for a second and I wasn't thinking. I don’t know what’s coming over me."

"I think I do," said Violet. Her hand returned to press against Sana's forehead. Sana sank into the touch gratefully.

"Liu?" Arkady looked nervous. 

"It's nothing too dangerous, Arkady. Captain." Violet's cheeks pinked. "Would you happen to be experiencing higher levels of arousal than you normally do?"

Arkady sputtered. "Wha-"

"Yes," Sana admitted.

Violet sighed. "I'm not a botanist, it was a paper I read in passing. The flower you described, it triggers the mating season of several species of Dwarnian fauna. Apparently there's sufficient overlap with aspects of human physiology that...those flowers have a similar impact on humans."

"You're saying the flowers made Sana want to get laid?" Arkady looked disbelieving. She shot Sana a look. "Not saying you didn't already want to."

"Point taken." Sana took a deep breath in. "Violet, how long does this typically last?"

"That's the issue with Arkady's summation. It's less want, more need. The symptoms worsen until uh, the subject engages in sexual activity with another individual." Violet winced. "There's no record of it abating without intervention. If I'm remembering the study correctly, the longest they had a subject endure was five days, and at that point he'd become... extremely violent."

"Okay, so as curious as I am, let’s not release uber-violent Sana," said Arkady. Her voice softened. "Violet, if it's the only option, I-"

"Of course," replied Violet, "but you know you don’t have to. I could-"

"Please tell me that the two of you aren't negotiating over who's going to have sex with me," groaned Sana. Her hands dropped to the ground, even though she’d rather shove them into her cargo pants. She stared at the couple in front of her. There had to be another solution. No matter how even hearing Arkady and Violet talk had made her body thrum at the promise in their words.

It would be an excuse. A justification for acting on feelings she's been waiting to fade away. Sana can't be that person, the type who takes the path most convenient to them. 

"If it can help-" Arkady started.

"Captain," interrupted Violet, looking apologetic, "if there's someone else on the crew you'd prefer, we can comm them, ask them if they'd be okay with it. Say the word. Anyone at all, this is about getting you through this, not judging you."

Sana’s brain froze. 

Violet’s face flickered through several conflicting expressions before she said, "Like, Park?"

"No!" snapped Sana. 

"Jeez, he might've heard you from the ship." Arkady snorted. "Liu, maybe a former agent who thinks anything Sana says is an order isn’t the best idea."

True. More relevantly to Sana's instinctive response, her body had who it wanted right in front of her.

"Yeah," admitted Violet. 

Sana dug her fingers into the dirt. She imagined holding herself down by only that, holding on as long as possible. Her crew wasn't about to leave her, though, and if she was only going to lose more control as time went on…

She could already feel herself slipping away. It felt like the only choice she might have was which direction to point herself in. Her mind was taunting her, tempting her. Violet's hand alone had made her feel better, so maybe all Sana needed was a single kiss to endure this. 

But from who? Desire and fairness twisted in Sana's mind, contradicting and complementing.

There was no one in the galaxy she trusted to have her back more than Arkady. Arkady would do anything to keep her safe. She'd make any trade for it, and Violet had always seemed quietly understanding of that. That made the choice far too clear.

"You have my full permission to do anything you deem necessary to stop me, Arkady. Crew is yours," Sana told Arkady, watching that familiar wince at the last phrase. 

Then, as the last bits of willpower left her, Sana grabbed Violet by her shirt collar and pulled her in for a kiss. Violet had the most knowledge of the plant’s risks. She was a worse liar than Arkady, surely, and Arkady was far more likely to protect Violet than herself. Sana drank in the feeling of Violet's soft lips, waiting for the moment Arkady interfered.

She didn't. Violet was kissing back, hand shifted back over Sana’s head to grip her neck. Sana's skin felt like it was on fire, the pain subsiding, but she couldn't-she needed to-

Sana broke the kiss. "Arkady, I told you-"

"Liu," said Arkady in a bored tone, "do you want me to heroically save you from our horny captain?" 

"Nope," said Violet, cheeks flushed and collar rumpled. "Please don’t. I'm rather busy kissing her right now."

Sana stared in confusion. "I-"

"Don't get me wrong, I might get a little bored." Arkady shrugged, and Violet gave her a look Sana didn’t understand. Arkady scrunched up her face. "What? We’ve patrolled this area so many times, we know this forest is safe. I'll entertain myself somehow."

Sana flung herself into kissing Arkady too, tackling her to the ground. Arkady returned the kiss far more slowly than Violet had, but it wasn’t reluctance, Sana thought, only that quiet caution which sometimes laced Arkady’s movements - those few seconds before a job, when she tended to the greenhouse, cleaning her weapons. It was more than Sana ever thought she’d have, getting to feel that care applied to her.

She reached out a hand blindly behind her and tugged Violet closer. It became difficult to keep track of things after that. With what the flower had done to her, there was no barrier between the slightest urge of her mind and her body enacting it, Arkady and Violet reacting as best they could.

There were more kisses, clothes hastily shoved out of the way, hands twisted between bodies pressed together. Violet was soft and pliable where Arkady was lean and taut, Violet’s fingers precise where Arkady’s mouth was reckless. Sana selfishly marveled at every new fact learned, every minor detail, even them talking. She herself was beyond speech, reduced to nothing more than an engine running on need and sensation and yet still craving more.

When she regained her senses, Sana found herself leaning against that same tree. There was a blanket draped over her. Not her own. Her limbs were soaked in sweat, her body felt sore and exhausted, and her stomach was beginning to growl. 

“How are you feeling?” Violet was sitting next to her. She mostly looked put together, other than the odd leaf sticking out of her hair and the flush to her cheeks.

“Violet,” Sana acknowledged. “Where’s”-she slowly blinked-”Where’s Arkady?”

“She’s fine. She’s back at the ship, letting the crew know we’d be a little while. We thought you could use some time to recover.”

“Thank you.”

“How are you feeling?” Violet repeated. Her eyes studied Sana with a disconcerting thoroughness. “Any symptoms remaining?”

“No,” answered Sana truthfully. She didn’t feel feverish, the pain was gone and she was able to talk to Violet without getting distracted by sexual daydreams. Only distracted by the actual reality of what had happened, guilt filling her chest. “I feel fine.”

“Good.” Violet took a big breath. “Um, are you okay? Other than that? Because you weren’t very uh, talkative. During? And we didn’t mean to-if there’d been any other-”

“Violet,” Sana interrupted, “I’m okay.” Sana thought over her next few words carefully. She smiled, letting gratitude - only gratitude - show on her face. “I’m okay, thanks to you and Arkady. The two of you handled an unusual situation remarkably well, and I couldn’t be more impressed. Especially with your work recognizing the plant, Violet.”

That had been nicely phrased, Sana thought. She had recognized that they had taken care of a medical need without revealing her own pre-existing desires, had thanked them like she would have for a regular aspect of their job, and hadn’t mentioned details they’d rather forget.

Yet, Violet’s face shuttered. 

Sana shifted in place, only then realizing that all her clothing was on her exactly where it should be, even her toolbelt. They’d really done their best, hadn’t they? “I’m sorry, Violet, I should have looked at where I was going.”

Violet sighed. “Please don’t apologize. It’s not your fault.” She rubbed a thumb against her temple. She muttered, more to herself than Sana. “It’s not anyone’s fault.”

Sana got to her feet. She pulled the blanket around her. “I’m okay to walk now.”

“Are you sure?” Violet stood up. “You can lean on me if you’re feeling weak.”

Sana was, but she waved Violet off. It wasn’t too long a walk. Violet could use the space. Sana made a note that the same was probably true for Arkady. There was something off about Violet’s reactions, and Arkady’s absence wasn’t a good sign given the latter’s paranoia. Sana was missing something. She wouldn’t figure it out in her current state, wrung out was she was.

Shower. Change of clothes. Food. Updates on how the rest of the crew was doing. Then Sana could reckon with what had happened this afternoon, and how to best resolve things between the three of them. No, not the three of them, she silently corrected. Between Sana and the two of them.

For now, she walked side-by-side with Violet and ignored the completely flower-free urge to hold her hand.


End file.
